GD coalition agrees on constitutional block against gay marriage

Prime MInister Giorgi Kvirikashvili. (Interpressnews.)

TBILISI, DFWatch–Leaders of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) coalition on Monday agreed to support a constitutional amendment to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

The constitutional amendment was discussed at a session of the GD political council on Monday.

The Republican Party, which is a member of the coalition, is against the proposal.

Georgia’s Civil Code defines marriage as union between a man and a woman. The new amendment will insert the same definition into the Constitution as well. The GD coalition agreed to submit a draft bill to parliament.

“We have an initiative to guarantee the protection of an important value, marriage, through the state’s most principal law, the Constitution,” Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili said after the meeting.

Before the meeting, the Republican Party wrote in a statement that the party does not support defining marriage in the Constitution as a union between a man and a woman.

“The Republican Party believes that initiating a draft will endanger society, and we do not plan to get trapped unreasonably in this political trap,” the statement reads.

Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili first suggested defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman on March 28, 2014, while discussing the anti-discrimination law; a requirement by the European Union in order for Georgians to get visa-free travel to Schengen.